Nut-wrench.



\VILLIAM S. VANKIRK, OF MIDDLESBOROUGH, KENTUCKY.

NUT-WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 645,148, dated March 13, 1900. Application filed December 24,1898. Serial No. 700,258. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM S. VANKIRK,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Middlesborough, in the county of Bell and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wrenches, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates generally to Wrenches, and more particularly to nut-wrenches, one object being to provide an exceedingly cheap and simple construction of nut-wrench employing the pawl-and-ratchet principle,whereby the nut can be turned bysimply working the handle back and forth, thereby permitting the wrench to housed in places where it would be impossible to revolve the handle.

Another object of the invention is to construct a wrench embodying these characteristics which can be readilyadjusted to fit large and small sized nuts.

With these objects in view my invention consists, essentially, of a shank and handle havinga circular opening at the end, in which is fitted a hub having a serrated flange upon one side and plates upon the opposite side, one of said plates having guide-arms attached thereto and extending through the other plate and an adjustable plate movable upon the said guide-arms and the screw for moving the said plate.

The invention consists also in certain details of construction and novelties of combination, all of which will be fully described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a face view of a wrench constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a view from the opposite side. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a detail-view of the plate having guide-arms, and Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the opposite plate.

In carrying out my invention I employ a shank A, provided with a handle A, and at the opposite end said shank has a circular opening A in which is fitted a flanged hub 13, the periphery of said flange being toothed, as shown at B, said teeth being so shaped that the double-pointed pawl C, pivoted to the shank, can be brought into engagement at either end, thereby making the wrench a double-acting ratchet-wrench that is capable of being operated in either direction, as it will be clearly understood that by reversing the double-ended pawl the motion of the hub will be reversed. The pawl G has a spring D connected therewith, which spring is fastened I to the shank, as most clearly shown, the purpose of the spring being to hold the pawl in plate G slides upon the guide arms or bars E,-

said plate having openings G, through which said guide arms or bars pass, and in order to move this plate G to or from the flange F of the plate F, I employ an adj usting-screw H, which passes through a guide-lug H,depending from the end of the plate E, and also through a threaded extension H upon the plate G, so that by turning the adjusting-screw in the proper direction the plate G will be moved to or from the flange F, and in order to accommodate a large or small sized nut, and after the plate has been so adjusted the manipulation of the wrench will of course be readily understood by every one, as it is only necessary to move the handle back and forth and the hub will be rotated within the shank through the medium of the pawl engaging the ratchet-periphery of the flange of said hub. By making the pawl reversible the hub can be rotated in either direction, so that a nut in any position can be moved to the right or the left, as desired.

It will thus be seen that I provide an exceedingly cheap, simple, and efficient construction of ratchet-wrench which can be made to fit all sizes of nuts and can be operated in close quarters where an ordinary nutwrench could not be used.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a wrench of the kind described, the combination with the shank and hub, together with means for moving said hub, of a plate carried by the hub and having guide arms or bars, a flanged plate carried also by the hub and a movable plate adjustable upon the guide arms or bars adapted to be moved to and from the flanged plate, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a Wrench of the kind described, the combination with the shank and hub, and means for moving the hub within the shank, of the plate having the guide arms or bars, and a depending guide-lug, a flanged plate in which the ends of the guide-bars are secured, a movable plate adapted to slide upon said guide arms or bars and having a depending threaded portion, and an adj usting-serew Working through the said depending portion and adapted to move the plate along the guide arms or bars to and from the flanged plate, substantially as shown and described.

8. In a wrench of the kind described, the combination of the shank, of the flanged hub the ends of the guide arms or bars are secured, and the movable plate adapted to move upon the guide arms or bars and having a threaded depending portion, and the adjusting-screw Working in said threaded portion for the purpose of adjusting the plate along the guide bars or arms, substantially as shown and described.

WILLIAM S. VANKIRK.

Witnesses:

CHARLES B. I-IAWEs, O. O. SPRAGUE. 

